MMS Staff Frequently asked questions

This page provides answers to the frequently asked questions by members of staff. The sections include:

Staff Lists

  • Any unit administrator will be able to add a member of staff to the school/unit. To add staff to a school:

    1. Log into MMS
    2. Ensure that school is selected from the drop down list at the top of the Modules page.
    3. Select the View School button.
    4. Select the Assign Staff Roles link (top right).
    5. Locate the Search MMS section.
    6. Enter the username of the user you wish to add in the text box provided and select the Search button.
    7. Select the user by checking the tick box next to the user’s name.
    8. Select the Import External Users button.
    9. The user will appear in the Staff Roles table with the role of Employee.

    Once a user has been added to the unit they can be added to modules and will appear in drop down lists of school staff, such as the Internal Examiner selection list in the Postgraduate Administration tool.

    To give someone another role at the school level, such as DoT:

    1. Add the user to the school/unit (see above).
    2. Locate the user in the Staff Roles table.
    3. Select the checkbox in the user’s row that in the column that relates to the role you wish to give the user (if you hover over the checkbox the roles will appear).
    4. Select the Update Roles button under the table.

  • Any unit administrator can add a member of staff to module. To do this:

    1. Log into MMS
    2. Select the module title from the Modules page, or by entering the module code into the Search field.
    3. Select the Staff tab.
    4. Under the Add staff to module heading, enter the staff members username.
    5. Select the user from the list that appears.
    6. Select the role from the Role drop down list.
    7. To add a user to the whole module, leave the group setting as is, else select the group from the Group drop down list.
    8. Select the Add button

  • Any unit administrator on a school/unit can add a member of staff to a module. To bulk add a member of staff to multiple modules:

    1. Log into MMS
    2. Ensure that school is selected from the drop down list at the top of the Modules page.
    3. Select the View School button.
    4. From the People section select the Staff / Module Assignment link.
    5. From the View Options section, select the role, semester, and academic year from the availible drop down lists.
    6. Select the blue Change View button.
    7. Start typing into the Filter visible staff by name field to reduce the table.
    8. Select the tick boxes corresponding to the required modules.
    9. Select the green Assign Staff button.

Module Visibility

This sections covers any questions around module lists or module visibility.

  • If a module is not runningg, for a given semester, but has already been activated, then the school may wish to delete the module in MMS. To do this:

    1. Log into MMS
    2. Access the Module overview by selecting the module title.
    3. Scroll down past the module details table.
    4. Select the red Delete Module button.

    Note: Registry should always be informed if a module is not running.

  • The view of the Modules page in MMS will default to the ‘Current’ view, this means it will only show modules that are currently running, based on the dates entered for the module.

    Check that you are viewing all the modules that you can by:

    1. Log into MMS
    2. Change the drop down list at the top of the modules page from Current to the academic year.
    3. Select Show All from the school drop down list at the top of the Modules page
    4. Select the Get my modules button.

    If the module is still not visible it could be that you have not yet been added as a member of staff to the module.

    To be added to a module, contact your school administration team.

  • There are a couple of ways to view your modules.

    Viewing modules via MySaint

    MySaint is the University staff and student portal. You will be able to access all your e:Vision tasks via MySaint, but also view all your MMS modules. To view your modules via MySaint:

    1. Log into MySaint: https://mysaint.st-andrews.ac.uk/uPortal
    2. Select Academic activities from the navigation panel on the left.
    3. Locate the My modules portlet.

    The My modules portlet will list all the modules you have been added to over the last few years. Select the module title to access the module in MMS, or select a tool to go directly into the tool.

    Viewing modules on the My Details page in MMS

    To view your modules in MMS:

    1. Log into MMS: https://mms.st-andrews.ac.uk/mms/
    2. Select My Details from the navigation panel on the left.
    3. Select the Staff Roles tab.

    The Staff Roles tab is split into two tables, the top table displays modules you have been added to, and the lower table displays your unit level roles.

    The drop down list in the modules table allows you to view your module enrollement for the past few years.

Academic Alerts and Misconduct Warnings

This sections covers any frequently asked questions about Academic Alerts

  • Academic Alerts can be marked ‘Revoked’ by:

    1. Log into MMS.
    2. Access the Module overiview by selecting the module title.
    3. Select the Academic Alerts tab.
    4. Locate the alert in the Issued Alerts table.
    5. Select the alert serial.
    6. Scroll down to the State History section
    7. Select the Revoke Alert button in the bottom right.

    Note: Once an alert has moved to the Unresolved state it can only be revoked by the Director of Teaching or Head of School.

  • The following roles can create Academic Alerts:

    • Academic Misconduct Officer
    • Director of Teaching
    • Head of Department
    • Head of School
    • Module Administrator
    • Module Co-ordinator
    • PG Secretary
    • Secretary
    • Sub-Honours Coordinator
    • Unit Administrator

  • The following roles can create Misconduct Warnings:

    • Academic Misconduct Officer
    • Director of Teaching
    • Head of School

  • Academic alerts are designed to help students identify issues that could prevent them from reaching their full potential, and to sign-post them to resources, they can be confusing and upsetting for students. To reduce the impact on student wellbeing, academic alerts are only issued during times when students can access wellbeing resources such as a Student Services.

    Therefore, any alerts issued outside the ‘academic alert core hours’ are held in the ‘Pending Issue’ start, and will be sent out to students, and thus enter the ‘Issued’ state at 09:00 the next working day.

  • By default Academic alert notifications only go to those with direct oversight of the student or module. MMS determines this based on which roles users have. However, occasionally it is necessary for a user to recieve notifications to an email address, instead of a personal email account.

    To have all alerts in a unit cc’d to a particular email address please contact [email protected].

Attendance tool

The attendance tool can be used to record student attendance. The attendance data is passed to SITS for UKVI purposes.

  • The attendance tool can be used to track attendance for any group type, and as many tools can be created in the module as necessary.

    The default group type for the attendance tool is, by default, the tutorial group type. To track attendance for another group type:

    1. Log into MMS
    2. Select the Module title to access the module overview.
    3. Scroll down to the Tools section
    4. Locate the attendance tool that you want to change, or create a new attendance tool.
    5. From the Group Type column select the appropriate group type (if the group type does not appear, see Groups and Group Types.
    A screenshot of the Tools table on the module overview with arrows indicating where to change the name of the tool, where to select the group type, and how to save the configuration.
    The tool Name and Group type can be changed on the Module overview.
    1. Select the Update Tools button to save.

  • Staff with a unit level role can view an overview of module attendance via the unit level Tutorial Absence Records dashboard:

    1. Log into MMS.
    2. Select the school from the drop down list on the Modules page.
    3. Select the View School button.
    4. Locate the Assessment section.
    5. Select the Tutorial Absence Records link.
    6. Enter the module code into the Module selection field.
    7. Select the Get Results button.

    For each module the number of approved and unapproved absences will be listed for each student. The last three columns list the total Approved Absences for the student, total unapproved absences and a link to the Detailed Record page for the student.

    To sort the table, select any column heading to sort on that column. Select the column heading again to sort in the reverse order.

  • Not all roles can mark an absence as approved, due to policy reasons. The roles what can mark absence are:

    • Advisor – can mark student as Absent
    • Director of Postgraduate (Taught) – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Director of Postgraduate Studies – can mark student as Approved absent.
    • Director of Teaching – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Dissertation Supervisor – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Exams Officer – can mark student as Approved absent.
    • Head of Department – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Head of School – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Lab Convenor – can mark student as Absent
    • Lecturer – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Module Administrator – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Module Co-ordinator – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • PG Secretary – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • PGT Supervisor – can mark student as Absent.
    • Principal Supervisor (PGR) – can mark student as Absent.
    • Reviewer (PGR) – can mark student as Absent
    • Secondary Supervisor (PGR) – can mark student as Absent
    • Secretary – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Sub-Honours Coordinator – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Tutor (Postgrad) – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Tutor (Staff) – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Tutor and Exam marker – can mark student as Absent, and Approved absent.
    • Unit Administrator – can mark student as Absent, and Appproved absent.

Groups and Group types

  • This is not currently automatic as all not schools use the group functionality in MMS. An administrative member of staff, either at the module or unit level, will need to ensure there is a group type in MMS that matches the group type in timetabling and that the groups have been imported

  • In order to sync correctly between the two systems the group types need to have the same name. The easiest way to do this is change the name in MMS to match the name in timetabling. This can be done by:

    1. Select the module title from the MMS Modules page or from the Academic activities workspace in MySaint
    2. Select the Students tab.
    3. Scroll down to the Group Types section.
    4. Locate the module type in the Group Types table.
    5. Select the text box containing the group type name and enter a new name.
    6. Select the Save button in the Actions column.
    7. A Import groups button should then appear in the Known to Timetabling column.

  • In order to sync correctly between the two systems the group types need to have the same name. The easiest way to do this is change the name in MMS to match the name in timetabling. If the name of the group/group type in timetabling is not as required there is usually a member of the School administration team who has the ability to update details in the Timetabling system – ask your School administration team for details.

  • Yes, groups and group types can be created as the module requires. Groups and Group types need to be in the timetabling system to appear in the student’s personal timetable, however groups and group types can be created independently in MMS as needed.

  • If student’s report any issues regarding the timetable to school staff there are a few things the school can do:

    • Check the group types and groups match between MMS and the Timetabling system.
    • Check the student is on a group.

    If the above do not work, or the students has any other technical issues they should be advised to contact [email protected] so that the ticket can be passed to the right team. This also helps the institution identify any areas that need improved upon which is essential for continual product improvement.

  • Both staff and students should email the [email protected] account from their personal accounts outlining the issue (if you are using a generic account please include your username in the email). This will create a ticket that will be passed to the correct team.

  • If only a partial set of data is being imported into MMS from the timetabling system please email the [email protected] account with the module code (e.g. AB1001), semester and the group type with the issue.

  • Currently there is no automatic sync in terms of groups types and groups between the Timetabling system and MMS (there is an automatic update between students on groups and Timetabling) as not all schools are using the MMS group functionality.

    If groups have changed in Timetabling the groups can be updated in MMS by locating the group type in the Group Types section of the Students tab on the module and selecting the Import Groups button.

  • Group types are used by MMS to collect together groups of the same kind. The default group type for most modules is the Tutorial group type. This means a Tutorial tab will appear on the module overview, and on that tab Tutorial groups can be created and configured. Students can only be on one group in a group type e.g. we would only expect students to be in one tutorial group.

    Sometimes, however, modules have more than one type of group, for example a module may have Tutorial groups and separate Lab groups. In this case another type of group (or ‘group type’) can be created.

    Groups are not always used, particularly if for small modules, and staff do not need to use the functionality in MMS if it is not needed.

  • The link between MMS and Moodle is just at the module/course level and it is not currently possible for Moodle to pass MMS the group data. It is possible to download a spreadsheet containing the students on a group from Moodle and upload the data to MMS

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